Bibcode
DOI
Martín, E. L.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.; Barrado y Navascués, D.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Rebolo, R.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 558, Issue 2, pp. L117-L121.
Advertised on:
9
2001
Journal
Citations
65
Refereed citations
52
Description
We present K-band photometry and low-resolution near-infrared
spectroscopy from 1.44 to 2.45 μm of isolated planetary-mass
candidate members in the σ Orionis cluster found by Zapatero
Osorio et al. The new data have been obtained with NIRC at the Keck I
telescope. All of our targets, except for one, are confirmed as likely
cluster members. Hence, we also confirm that the planetary-mass domain
in the cluster is well populated. Using our deep K-band images, we
searched for companions to the targets in the separation range of
0.3"-10" up to a maximum faint limit of K=19.5 mag. One suspected
companion seems to be an extremely red galaxy. The near-infrared colors
of the σ Orionis substellar members indicate that dust grains
condense and settle in their atmospheres. We estimate that the surface
temperatures range from 2500 down to 1500 K. The spectroscopic sequence
covers the full range of L subclasses, and the faintest object is
tentatively classified as T0. These targets provide a sequence of
substellar objects of known age, distance, and metallicity, which can be
used as a benchmark for understanding the spectral properties of
ultracool dwarfs.